DJI Nazis at it again...

[Donnie Frank]

Hey doods;

Flying the same mission I've been flying twice a month with the same software and firmware on my Inspire 1 for almost 2 years, this popped up out of nowhere:




Fortunately for all of us I always keep a spare iPad with even OLDER software just in case something like this happens. Mission completed. Client happy. Paycheck issued. Win = me.



Worth noting, I had connected everything the night before to make sure the MicroSD card was cleared and the camera settings were right (can't format the card within this app). 10 hours later, DJI Nazis are trying to ruin my livelihood.

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D

 

[P. J.]

I can understand the frustration but it looks as though you’re only being asked to register the third party software.

Yes it’s caused a delay and inconvenience but calling DJI Nazis seems a little OTT.

Perhaps a closer examination of history, looking at the atrocities the Nazis caused against humanity will bring your inconvenience into perspective.

Hope the problem has since been resolved.

Take care and catch you later. Peter

 

[Donnie Frank]

I can understand the frustration but it looks as though you’re only being asked to register the third party software.

Precisely. But it has to be said that I've been using this software (AutoPilot) for YEARS. Imagine driving your Tesla for YEARS, only to be stopped out of the blue on your way to work one day and not allowed to move until you plug the thing into the Internet and re-register it.

Yes it’s caused a delay and inconvenience

Only because of my diligence having a Plan B to circumvent the Nazism was this an "inconvenience." I imagine many Tesla drivers would consider this more than an "inconvenience." I imagine for some, it would be a deal-breaker.

Had I NOT had a Plan B, it would have been far more than an inconvenience for me....FAR more. I literally would not have been able to shoot the client this week. Why? Because Tuesday (the following day) I had a Traffic Analysis gig that takes all day. Wed, Thurs and today it has been raining all day. I literally would've had to tell the client, "Sorry....no video this week." Videos are on a two week cycle due every other Monday. If I miss that deadline, I don't get to make it up the following week. I have to SKIP the shoot, which mean NO PAY.

but calling DJI Nazis seems a little OTT.

This registration was NOT a request. Had DJI *requested* that I register "ASAP," I would've been kewl with that, I this thread would never see the light of day. But they didn't do that. DJI DISABLED my TOOL that I already PAID FOR YEARS ago. I'm sorry..."Nazi-esque" fits the situation perfectly.

Perhaps a closer examination of history, looking at the atrocities the Nazis caused against humanity will bring your inconvenience into perspective.

Don't take the term literally. That would be a mistake.

Hope the problem has since been resolved.

I guess we'll see in two weeks when I go out to shoot again. I've done everything I could do here at the house, just like I did the night before I got the message. So we'll see.

If this happens again next week, I will have to take further action to insure this never happens again...which means working WAAAAAY outside the box DJI has put us in.

Take care and catch you later. Peter

You, too.

D

 

[RobYale]

Could this be an instance of Godwin’s law?

 

[Donnie Frank]

Could this be an instance of Godwin’s law?

Since I referenced "Nazis" right out of the shoot, no.

Godwin's Law is a progressive, eventual, inevitable gravitation towards Nazis or Hitler, usually employed in an ad hominem manner during political discourse. It is usually employed in lieu of a logical argument. i.e. "We need to secure the borders." "You're a Nazi!"

My use of the term "Nazi" is completely different in this instance.

D

 

[cjc1103]

Did you try using Litchi? I haven't had an issue using Litchi with my P4P or my Inspire 1. The drone industry is shaking out and consolidating, Autopilot was bought by Hangar. And perhaps if you have "registered" the new version of the Auopilot app everything would be OK. It seems more and more than you have to protect yourself by not updating an app/firmware combination that you know works. It gets harder and harder to not update. Sometime you have to connect to the internet to download a mission plan using Hangar/Autopilot/Loveland/IMGNG etc, and if you update the DJI app all bets are off, it'll check app versions, phone home and who knows what else. And updating iOS may mean an earlier app won't work any longer.

 

[Donnie Frank]

Did you try using Litchi?

No. I use business versions of Autopilot and MapPilot. Between those two programs and the DJI programs I'm covered for everything I need to do with my drones.

I haven't had an issue using Litchi with my P4P or my Inspire 1.

It's my understanding that the "Nazi message" is a DJI message, NOT an Autopilot or MapPilot message. Now that I know DJI is the culprit, I have taken steps to assure this never happens again.

The drone industry is shaking out and consolidating, Autopilot was bought by Hangar. And perhaps if you have "registered" the new version of the Auopilot app everything would be OK.

Both Autopilot and MapPilot are registered, pay, professional, business versions.

It seems more and more than you have to protect yourself by not updating an app/firmware combination that you know works.

Yep. Depending on what I'm doing, I use 3 versions of MapPilot (2.9.2; 4.4 and 4.7) and 2 versions of Autopilot.

It gets harder and harder to not update.

I've locked down my iOS and all updates. In addition, should one of these programs somehow be updated by accident, I have an exit strategy. I can roll back any app I wish, which is something Apple generally doesn't allow the general public to do. It's a hack. With DJI and Apple, EVERYTHING is a hack.

Sometime you have to connect to the internet to download a mission plan using Hangar/Autopilot/Loveland/IMGNG etc,

Correct. Autopilot requires an Internet connection to share missions, which happens automatically. So far, I have found this to be very convenient. MapPilot works differently, in that I have to share the flights.plist file, which is, once again, a hack. But it works flawlessly.

and if you update the DJI app all bets are off,

Yep. I've been using 2016 versions of the Go (v3.1.1) and Go4 (v4.0.8) apps since 2016.

it'll check app versions, phone home and who knows what else.

Though these older versions DO "phone home," they are limited as to what they can FORCE on the user. The versions I chose are based on the fact that the very next version implemented the "Nazi protocol." I don't have to take tests or agree to new EULA's or connect to the Internet for the privilege of flying my drone that I already supposedly own.

And updating iOS may mean an earlier app won't work any longer.

Yep. So that doesn't get updated, either. My mantra, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

D

 

[ToledoJDF]

Donny, I fully understood your comment, apparently not everyone has been around long enough to understand the "reach" that DJI has gone to in the past to intrude beyond what is appropriate and reasonable. Beyond having to resolve the not-too-long ago lawsuits for their "unauthorized internet connections" to Inspire 1's, without owners permission, there is the back-doors they purposely installed in product firmware to gain direct access, at their option, to the firmware and our own files, that were discovered a few years ago on multiple products, and then there is the issue of the forced obsolescence by deleting past firmware revisions from the libraries... The concept that I can buy a product with advertised capabilities and find out after the purchase that I have to authorize them the right and ability to alter those functions later, whether I want it or not, before I can download the software to operate it, is definitely a DJI trademark. I can count 5 of their products that the speed, flight capabilities and operational characteristics were involuntarily changed, after the fact by them, as much as 3 years after purchasing the product. Remember when a Mavic Pro could fly at 43mph? Remember when the owners that bought it as advertised at 40 mph, found suddenly that their drones were down-graded to a 29 mph limit? This is one of a dozen after-the-purchase changes that were forced involuntarily to owners that had already bought and paid for their equipment. How would you like to purchase a 4K tv that a year later was downgraded by Samsung without your permission to 1080p? No one would stand for it. and, take a look sometime at what the GO4 software is doing to your Ipad or phone after you close the application and assume it is not running any longer... no one should ever close the application without also then turning off your Ipad, or "force-stopping" the app in your android phone... this is the stuff that you find in over-the-top conspiracy theory movie plots.
I long for the day that we finally have another "option" that we are non-captive to... but it may never happen, because a lot of people these days don't care what permissions that they give, and DJI knows it.

 

[Donnie Frank]

Donny, I fully understood your comment, apparently not everyone has been around long enough to understand the "reach" that DJI has gone to in the past to intrude beyond what is appropriate and reasonable. Beyond having to resolve the not-too-long ago lawsuits for their "unauthorized internet connections" to Inspire 1's, without owners permission, there is the back-doors they purposely installed in product firmware to gain direct access, at their option, to the firmware and our own files, that were discovered a few years ago on multiple products, and then there is the issue of the forced obsolescence by deleting past firmware revisions from the libraries... The concept that I can buy a product with advertised capabilities and find out after the purchase that I have to authorize them the right and ability to alter those functions later, whether I want it or not, before I can download the software to operate it, is definitely a DJI trademark. I can count 5 of their products that the speed, flight capabilities and operational characteristics were involuntarily changed, after the fact by them, as much as 3 years after purchasing the product. Remember when a Mavic Pro could fly at 43mph? Remember when the owners that bought it as advertised at 40 mph, found suddenly that their drones were down-graded to a 29 mph limit? This is one of a dozen after-the-purchase changes that were forced involuntarily to owners that had already bought and paid for their equipment. How would you like to purchase a 4K tv that a year later was downgraded by Samsung without your permission to 1080p? No one would stand for it. and, take a look sometime at what the GO4 software is doing to your Ipad or phone after you close the application and assume it is not running any longer... no one should ever close the application without also then turning off your Ipad, or "force-stopping" the app in your android phone... this is the stuff that you find in over-the-top conspiracy theory movie plots.
I long for the day that we finally have another "option" that we are non-captive to... but it may never happen, because a lot of people these days don't care what permissions that they give, and DJI knows it.

WELL SAID!

Fortunately for me, there are hacks and workarounds that 99.9% of drone pilots don't know exist. These workarounds and hacks allow me to fly where I want as high as I want as fast as I want whenever I wish. It's what keeps me in business while other guys are dumbfounded why their DJI product won't fly on that day at that location for no apparent reason. Or they're stuck because DJI demands they log into the mothership 30 miles from any available cell tower.

My partner and I fly multiple jobs/week and never have an issue. All drones run legacy software and legacy firmware. We always deliver.

Nice rant. I'm printing it and framing it.

D

 

[crw92662]

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